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Noise regulations for air conditioners

All air conditioners make noise, it’s an unavoidable fact of electric heating and cooling. But depending on where you live and where you want to install your air conditioner, you may need to check noise pollution laws in your area.

To make it easier to compare your cooler to what is allowed, all air conditioners have a label on them at time of purchase that indicates how much noise they generate.

In Victoria, for example, the Environment Protection (Residential Noise) Regulations 2008 state that you can’t use an air conditioner that exceeds 35 decibels at your property’s boundary before 7am or after 10pm on weekdays and before 9am and after 10pm on weekends. While similar in other states, there can be variances. In most cases the person installing your system should be able to advise you on the local regulations.